holding the noses of the poor publicans to the grindstone of Excise; and like Milton's Satan, for private reasons, am forced I send you by my friend Mr. Wallace fortyone songs for your fifth volume; if we cannot finish it any other way, what would you think of Scots words to some beautiful Irish airs? "To do what yet tho' dam'd 1 would ab- In the meantime, at your leisure, give a copy hore ;" of the Museum to my worthy friend Mr. Peter Hill, bookseller, to bind for me, interleaved and except a couplet or two of honest execration with blank leaves, exactly as he did the laird No. CXCVI. TO MRS. DUNLOP Castle Douglas, 5th June, 1794. HERE in a solitary inn, in a solitary village, am I set by myself, to amuse my brooding fancy as I may. Solitary confinement, you know, is Howard's favourite idea of reclaiming sinners; so let me consider by what fatality it happens that I have so long been exceeding sinful as to neglect the correspondence of the most valued friend I have on earth. To tell you that I have been in poor health, will not be excuse enough, though it is true. I am afraid I am about to suffer for the follies of my youth. My medical friends threaten me with a flying gout; but I trust they are mistaken. of Glenriddel's, that I may insert every anecdote I can learn, together with my own cricisms and remarks on the songs.-A copy of this kind I shall leave with you, the editor, to publish at some after period, by way of making the Museum a book famous to the end of time, and you renowned for ever. I have got an Highland dirk for which I have great veneration; as it once was the dirk of Lord Balmerino. It fell into bad hands, who stripped it of the silver mounting, as well as I have some thoughts of the knife and fork. sending it to your care, to get it mounted anew. Thank you for the copies of my Volunteer Ballad.-Our friend Clarke has done indeed well! It is chaste and beautiful. I have not met with any thing that has pleased me so You know, I am no connoisseur, but much, that I am an amateur-will be allowed me. No. CXCVIII. TO PETER MILLER, JUN. Esq.t DEAR SIR, You will probably have another scrawl from were I an insular individual, unconnected with me in a stage or two. a wife and a family of children, with the most fervid enthusiasm I would have volunteered my services: I then could and would have despised all consequences that might have ensued. My prospect in the Excise is something; at least, it is, encumbered as I am with the welfare, the very existence, of near half-a-score of helpless individuals, what I dare not sport with. In the mean time, they are most welcome to This is the manuscript book containing the remarks on Scottish songs and ballads, presented to the public, with consideral le additions, in this volume. In a conversation with his friend Mr. Perry, (the proprietor of "The Morning Chronicle"), Mr. Miller represented to that gentleman the insufficiency of Burns's salary to answer the imperious demands of a numerous family. In their sympathy for his misfortunes, and in th ir regret that his talents were nearly lost to the world of letters, these gentlemen agreed on the plan of settling him in London. To accomplish this most desirable object, Mr. Perry, very spiritedly, made the poet a handsome offer of an annual stipend for the exercise of his talents in his newspaper. Burns's reasons for refusing this offer are stated in the present letter-CROMEK. Kennedy. Yours in the L- -d R. B. my Ode; only, let them insert it as a thing | A hymn of thanksgiving would, in my opi they have met with by accident and unknown nion, be highly becoming from you at present, to me.-Nay, if Mr. Perry, whose honour, af- and in my zeal for your well-being, I earnestly ter your character of him I cannot doubt; if press it on you to be diligent in chanting over he will give me an address and channel by which the two enclosed pieces of sacred poesy. My any thing will come safe from those spies with best compliments to Mrs. Hamilton and Miss which he may be certain that his correspondence is beset, I will now and then send him any bagatelle that I In the present write. may hurry of Europe, nothing but news and politics will be regarded; but against the days of peace, which Heaven send soon, my little assistance may perhaps fill up an idle column of a Newspaper. I have long had it in my head to try my hand in the way of little prose essays, which I propose sending into the world through the medium of some Newspaper; and should these be worth his while, to these Mr. Perry shall be welcome; and all my reward shall be, his treating me with his paper, which, by the bye, to any body who has the least relish for wit, is a high treat indeed. With the most grateful esteem, I am ever, No. CXCIX. TO GAVIN HAMILTON, Esq. MY DEAR SIR, No. CC. TO MR. SAMUEL CLARKE, JUN. DEAR SIR, Sunday Morning. I WAS, I know, drunk last night, but I am sober this morning. From the expressions Capt. made use of to me, had I had nobody's welfare to care for but my own, we should certainly have come, according to the manners of the world, to the necessity of murdering one another about the business. The words were such as, generally, I believe, end in a brace of pistols; but I am still pleased to think that I did not ruin the peace and welfare of a wife and a family of children in a drunken squabble. Farther you know that the report of certain political opinions being mine, has already once Dumfries. before brought me to the brink of destruction. Ir is indeed with the highest satisfaction that I dread lest last night's business may be misI congratulate you on the return of "days of represented in the same way.-You, I beg, ease, and nights of pleasure," after the horrid will take care to prevent it. I tax your wish hours of misery, in which I saw you suffering for Mrs. Burns's welfare with the task of waitexistence when I was last in Ayrshire. I sel- ing as soon as possible, on every gentleman dom pray for any body. "I'm baith dead who was present, and state this to him, and, as sweer, and wretched ill o't." But most fervent you please, shew him this letter. What, after ly do I beseech the great Director of this world, all, was the obnoxious toast? "May our sucthat you may live long and be happy, but that cess in the present war be equal to the justice you may live no longer than while you are of our cause."-A toast that the most outragehappy. It is needless for me to advise you to ous frenzy of loyalty cannot object to. I request have a reverend care of your health. I know and beg that this morning you will wait on the you will make it a point never, at one time, to parties present at the foolish dispute. I shall drink more than a pint of wine; (I mean an only add, that I am truly sorry that a man who English pint), and that you will never be wit-stood so high in my estimation as Mr. ness to more than one lowl of punch at a time; should use me in the manner in which I con and that cold drams you will never more taste.ceive he has done. I am well convinced too, that after drinking, following foolish verses were sent as an attack on Burns and his friends for their political opinions. They were written by some member of a club styling themselves the Loyal Natives of Dumfries, or rather by the united genius of that club, which was more distinguished for drunken loyalty, than either for respectability or poetical talent. The verses were handed over the table to Burns at a convivial meeting, and he instantly indorsed the subjoined reply. perhaps boiling punch, you will never mount At this period of our Poet's life, when political your horse and gallop home in a chill, late hour.animosity was made the ground of private quarrel, the -Above all things, as I understand you are now in habits of intimacy with that Boanerges of gospel powers, Father Auld, be earnest with him that he will wrestle in prayer for you, that you may see the vanity of vanities in trusting to, or even practising the carnal moral works of charity, humanity, generosity, and forgiveness; things which you practised so flagrantly that it was evident you delighted in them; neglecting, or perhaps, prophanely despising the wholesome doctrine of "Faith without works, the only anchor of salvation." The Loyal Natives' Verses. Ye sons of sedition give ear to my song, No. CCI. 10 MR. ALEXANDER FINDLATER, SUPERVISOR OF EXCISE, DUMFRIES. SIR, I would However, ability and independence, is what I can ill brook and bear; but to be deprived of that most admirable oration of the Marquis of Lansdowne, when he made the great, though ineffectual attempt, (in the language of the poet, I fear too true,) to save a SINKING STATE"-this was ENCLOSED are the two schemes. a loss which I neither can, nor will forgive you. not have troubled you with the collector's one, -That paper, Gentlemen, never reached me; but for suspicion lest it be not right. Mr. Ers- but I demand it of you. I am a BRITON; and kine promised me to make it right, if you will must be interested in the cause of LIBERTY :— have the goodnes to shew him how. As I have I am a MAN; and the RIGHTS of HUMAN NAno copy of the scheme for myself, and the alter- TURE cannot be indifferent to me. ations being very considerable from what it was do not let me mislead you: I am not a man in formerly, I hope that I shall have access to this that situation of life, which, as your subscriber, scheme I send you, when I come to face up my can be of any consequence to you, in the eyes new books. So much for schemes.-And that no scheme to betray a FRIEND, or mislead STRANGER; to seduce a YOUNG GIRL, or rob a HENROOST; to subvert LIBERTY, or bribe an EXCISEMAN; to disturb the GENERAL ASSEMBLY, or annoy a GOSSIPPING; to overthrow the credit of ORTHODOXY, or the authority of OLD to oppose your wishes, or frustrate my hopes MAY PROSPER-is the sincere wish and prayer of SONGS; ROBT. BURNS. No. CCII. a of those to whom SITUATION OF LIFE ALONE is the criterion of MAN.-I am but a plain tradesman, in this distant, obscure country town: but that humble domicile in which I shelter my wife and children, is the CASTELLUM of a BRITON; and that scanty, Lard-earned income which supports them, is as truly my property, as the most magnificent fortune, of the most PUISSANT MEMBER of your HOUSE of NOBLES. These, Gentlemen, are my sentiments; and to them I subscribe my name: and were I a man of ability and consequence enough to address the PUBLIC, with that name should they appear. I am, &c. Ye true "Loyal Natives" attend to my song, This letter owes its origin to the following cir. cumstance. A neighbour of the Poet's at Dumfries, called on him and complained that he was greatly disappointed in the irregular delivery of the Paper of The Morning Chronicle. Burns asked, "Why do not you write to the Editors of the Paper?" Good God, Sir, can I presume to write to the learned Edi tors of a Newspaper?-Well, if you are afraid of writ ing to the Editors of a Newspaper I am not; and if you think proper, I'll draw up a sketch of a letter, which you may copy. Burns tore a leaf from his excise book and instantly produced the sketch which I have transcribed, and which is here printed. The poor man thanked him, and took the letter home. However, that caution which the watchfulness of his enemies had taught him to exercise, prompted him to the prudence of begging a friend to wait on the person for whom it was written, and request the favour to have it returned. This request was complied with, and the paper never appeared in print. No. CCIII. TO COL. W. DUNBAR. I AM not gone to Elysium, most noble Colonel, but am still here in this sublunary world, serving my God by propagating his image, and honouring my king by begetting him loyal subjects. Many happy returns of the season await my friend! May the thorns of care never beset his path! May peace be an inmate of his bosom, and rapture a frequent visitor of his soul! May the blood-hounds of misfortune never trace his steps, nor the screech-owl of sorrow alarm his dwelling! May enjoyment tell thy hours, and pleasure number thy days, thou friend of the Bard! Blessed be he that blesseth thee, and cursed be he that curseth thee' No. CCIV. TO MISS FONTENELLE, ACCOMPANYING A PROLOGUE TO BE SPOKEN MADAM, In such a bad world as ours, those who add to the scanty sum of our pleasures, are posi Thou other man of care, the wretch in love, Who long with jiltish arts and airs hast strove ; Measur'st in desperate thought a rope-thy neck tively our benefactors. To you, Madam, on | Laugh in Misfortune's face-the beldam witch! our humble Dumfries boards, I have been more Say, you'll be merry, though you can't be rich. indebted for entertainment than ever I was in prouder theatres. Your charms as a woman would insure applause to the most indifferent actress, and your theatrical talents would insure admiration to the plainest figure. This, Madam, is not the unmeaning, or insidious compliment of the frivolous or interested; I pay it from the same honest impulse that the sublime of nature excites my admiration, or her beauties give me delight. Will the foregoing lines be of any service to you on your approaching benefit night? If they will, I shall be prouder of my muse than ever. They are nearly extempore: I know they have no great merit; but though they should add but little to the entertainment of the evening, they give me the happiness of an opportunity to declare how much I have the honour to be, &c. ADDRESS. Spoken by Miss FONTENELLE on her benefit- STILL anxious to secure your partial favour, "I know your bent-these are no laughing times: Or, where the beetling cliff o'erhangs the deep, fic. To sum up all, be merry, I advise, No. CCV. TO MRS. DUNLOP. MY DEAR FRIEND, 15th December, 1794. As I am in a complete Decembrish humour, gloomy, sullen, stupid, as even the deity of Dulness herself should wish, I shall not drawl out a heavy letter with a number of heavier apologies, for my late silence. Only one I shall mention, because I know you will sympathize in it: these four months, a sweet little girl, my youngest child, has been so ill, that every day, a week or less threatened to terminate her existence. There had much need be many pleasures annexed to the states of husband and father, for God knows, hang! If I am nipt off at the command of fate; children, has indeed woe enough; but the man I could no more-askance the creature eyeing, of competent fortune leaves his sons and daughD'ye think, said I, this face was made for cry-shall run distracted if I think any longer on the ters independency and friends; while I-but I ing? I'll laugh, that's poznay, more, the world shall know it; And so, your servant-gloomy Master Poet. Firm as my creed, Sirs, 'tis my fix'd belief, Thon man of crazy care and ceaseless sigh, subject! To leave talking of the matter so gravely, I Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away." have sent them among friends all about the coun December 24th. We have had a brilliant theatre here, this sea- try. son; only, as all other business has, it experiences a stagnation of trade from the epidemical complaint of the country, wunt of cash. I mention our theatre merely to lug in an occasional Address, which I wrote for the benefit-night of one of the actresses, and which is as follows:(See Address, p. 384.) 25th, Christmas, Morning. THIS, my much-loved friend, is a morning of wishes: accept mine-so Heaven hear me as they are sincere! that blessings may attend your steps, and affliction know you not! In the charming words of my favourite author, The Man of Feeling, May the great spirit bear up the weight of thy grey hairs; and blunt the arrow that brings them rest!" To pillory on Parnassus the rank reprobation of character, the utter dereliction of all principle, in a profligate junto which has not only outraged virtue, but violated common decency, which, spurning even hypocrisy as paltry iniquity below their daring ;-co unmask their flagitiousness to the broadest day-to deliver such over to their merited fate, is surely not merely innocent, but laudable; is not only propriety, but virtue.-You have already, as your auxiliary, the sober detestation of mankind on the heads of your opponents; and I swear by the lyre of Thalia to muster on your side all the votaries of honest laughter, and fair, candid ridicule! I am extremely obliged to you for your kind mention of my interests in a letter which Mr. At present, my situation in Syme newed me. life must be in a great measure stationary, at least for two or three years. The statement is this-I am on the supervisors' list, and as we come on there by precedency, in two or three years I shall be at the head of that list, and be Then a FRIEND might appointed, of course. Now that I talk of authors, how do you like Cowper? is not the Task a glorious poem? The religion of the Task, bating a few scraps of Calvinistic divinity, is the religion of God and Nature: the religion that exalts, that ennobles man, Were not you to send me your Zeluco in return for mine? Tell me how you like my marks and notes through the book. I would not give a far-be of service to me in getting me into a place A superthing for a book, unless I were at liberty to blot of the kingdom which I would like. visor's income varies from about a hundred and it with my criticisms. twenty, to two hundred a year; but the business is an incessent drudgery, and would be nearly a complete bar to every species of literary pursuit. The moment I am appointed supervisor, in the common routine, I may be nominated on the collector's list; and this is always a business purely of political patronage. A collectorship varies much, from better than two hundred a year to near a thousand. They also come forward by precedency on the list; and have besides a handsome income, a life of complete leisure. I have lately collected, for a friend's perusal, all my letters; I mean those which I first sketched, in a rough draught, and afterwards wrote out fair. On looking over some old musty papers, which from time to time I had parcelled by, as trash that were scarce worth preserving, and which yet, at the same time, I did not care to destroy, I discovered many of those rude sketches, and have written, and am writing them out, in a bound MS. for my friend's library. As 1 wrote always to you the rhapsody of the moment, I cannot find a single scroll to you, except one, about the commencement of our acquaintance. If there were any possible conveyance, I would send you a perusal of my book. A life of literary leisure with a decent competence, is the summit of my wishes. It would be the prudish affectation of silly pride in me to say that I do not need, or would not be indebted to a political friend; at the same time, Sir, I by no means lay my affairs before you thus, to hook my dependant situation on your benevolence. If, in my progress of life, an opening should occur where the good offices of a gentleman of your public character and political consequence might bring me forward, shall petition your goodness with the same frankness as I now do myself the honour to subscribe myself, &c. |